Kolkata Crime against children in the country have spiked 300 per cent in the past three years since 2009, said the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights Chairperson Stuti Kacker. She mentioned the new piece of information in a written statement, read out on her behalf, at the Anti-Human Trafficking conference organised in Kolkatas Mary Ward Social Centre.

In her statement, she discussed the absolute necessity to chalk a multi-sectoral action plan to combat child trafficking and other crimes against children.The National Crime Record Bureau suggests that there is a rise in crime against children since 2009. The number of incidents rose from 24,203 in 2009 to 92,172 in 2015, resulting in an increase of almost 300 percent in a span of six years, Kacker said.

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The deeper analysis shows that in crime rate a substantial increase has taken place between 2009 and 2015 due to the marriage of minor girls, kidnapping and abduction and selling of minors for prostitution, she added.In addition, Kacker went on to reveal that a number of trafficking victims among children have also significantly increased in the recent years. Citing NCRB data, she said that a total of 9,104 children were trafficked in 2015, which is a 27 per cent rise over 2014.Over 60 per cent human trafficking cases involve childrenThe data flourished by her applies to cases in the country and cross-border trafficking as well. The estimate, she said, indicates that over 60 per cent of total human trafficking is of the children.

Kacker suggested an action plan in the country to address issues like poverty, unemployment and economic and gender disparity that are major reasons for any form of human trafficking.

The causes of global child trafficking are varied and complex but it includes poverty, lack of opportunity, economic disparity, land demarcation, increased gender discrimination and discriminatory cultural practices, she said.

We need to protect our children from violence and crime to identify and close the gap that enables the traffickers a scope and formulate a multi-sectoral action plan for combating child trafficking, she added.